THE CHALLENGES OF A RIGHTS-BASED PLATFORM GOVERNANCE THROUGH THE LENS OF CYBERVIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The incidence of cyberviolence against women has emerged as a growing global issue, representing a novel form of violence against women. This dissertation argues that such violence is not incidental but a structural human rights violation, and a continuum of violence from offline to online. In addition, cyberviolence against women is facilitated and characterised by online platforms that control every digital interaction. In the fight against cyberviolence, human rights have served as a foundation for platform governance norms, but whether or not they are sufficient to address systemic inequality in an algorithmic society is being questioned more and more. The complex constellation of human rights challenged by the new technologies is opening the door to the complex process of redefining normative frameworks, balancing individual rights with collective interests, and reshaping accountability mechanisms in digital societies. Through the lens of cyberviolence against women, this dissertation adopts a doctrinal and content analysis approach, comparing and contrasting the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines of twenty-nine platforms in the context of key EU instruments. Specifically, the research pays attention to the Digital Service Act, as it serves as a foundation for EU digital constitutionalism approach by enforcing mandatory due diligence on private platforms within its borders. The results show that the rights-based paradigm that the EU has, even though novel, is not without its flaws. Although transparency standards and contractual responsibilities have been imposed by European legislation, platforms still have a lot of leeway to decide how to put their promises into action, and enforcement is patchy at best. There are wider ramifications for users' capacity to assert rights online, as the study also reveals differences between bigger and smaller platforms, especially in the layout and availability of their policies. Beyond the borders, EU has been successful in exporting norms through the so-called ‘Brussels Effect’. However, looking at the global regulation impacted by the rivalry China and the US, one could argue that geopolitical tensions and the limitations of liberal rights rhetoric restrict the EU’s ability to construct a global framework. In order to tackle these issues, the dissertation proposes a “rights-plus” paradigm that enhances global digital governance and emphasises the important of a collective approach to digital rights. The dissertation concludes that human rights remains an important starting point for the discussions on platform governance, but that they will need to change in order to address the systemic causes of cyberviolence and power imbalances between platforms, states and users. The research contributes to the growing body of work that challenges traditional human rights norms by proposing a thicker notion of human rights for protecting people's rights to privacy, equality, and dignity in an algorithmic society.